Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a remote transaction system and, more particularly, to a system and method which facilitates mobile commerce and dynamically values remote user actions based on a particular user's social media profile.
Description of the Prior Art
Rewards in the online world for social interactions and updates are becoming very popular. Perks, points, credits, stickers and badges are just a few of the virtual rewards users acquire on a daily basis by interacting with their social networks. U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0076831, issued to Samuel, teaches the provision of awards to a user's account in response to a user accessing access to one of the plurality of web pages. U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0028160, issued to Roeding, et al., discloses detecting a presence of a mobile phone within an enclosed space and subsequently transmitting advertising or rewards information to the mobile phone based on its presence. U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0275311, issued to Buehler, et al., discloses a method of awarding incentives to a user in response to the user participating electronically in ancillary activities relating to a media program currently being broadcast. U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0066041, issued to Mankoff, discloses methods and systems for offering a real and valuable gift, to be delivered virtually, to users.
Such existing systems and methods for providing rewards to consumers for promoted activities are limited. Such systems and methods often work to provide users with rewards to a user account which are virtual or must be subsequently redeemed. In other scenarios, a user may be required to generate rewards in such existing systems and methods by availing himself to some merchant related device or software. Another common limitation is that rewards in such existing systems and methods are not normally physical and/or tangible and designed to be consumable immediately at the location where the user is situated.
Moreover, systems and methods for initiating transactions on vending machines, gaming machines, or the like (collectively, credit accepting machines or dispensing machines), are conventionally limited in that they include the issuance of machine credits and the subsequent redemption of machine credits for something of value by a user or administrator of the dispensing machine who is present at the dispensing machine and interacting therewith. Indeed, machine credits on dispensing machines are conventionally issued while a user is in front of the subject dispensing machine, typically in exchange for the entry of payment in the form of coins, cash, or credit cards (or through a near field communication protocol). These machine credits can then be redeemed at the machine for one or more of the items of value which are offered by the machine.
Through recent design changes, some newer systems allow for addition user interaction, such as the provision of a code which can be entered to access a free vend. It is noted, however, there is presently no inherent reason that the initiation of transactions on a vending machine and the issuance of machine credits must be limited to users who are physically in front of and presently interfacing with the subject dispensing machine. While operators of dispensing machines can currently send cash refunds remotely for problems reported and subsequently verified on the machine, there is no method for a support call to be placed and the problem resolved immediately for the end user. If machine credit could be issued in response to the actions of a user (or operator) which were performed remotely, transactions could be initiated in response to a plurality of types of user actions, including actions performed on the Internet or actions performed on a nearby dispensing machine. Therefore, there remains a need for a system and method which can enable a user or administrator of a dispensing machine to issue machine credit in response to user action which is performed remotely relative to the machine issuing the credit. It would be desirable for such a system and method to be configured for a user to be able to receive a physical or tangible reward or initiate a transaction in the real world or in response to the user performing certain requested or directed actions in a social media setting with their mobile device. It would be advantageous for such a system and method to be able to assign a value in rewarding the user's performance of the requested or directed actions in a social media setting based on the user's status in the social media setting.